What are the penalties for employing someone who doesn’t have the right to work in the UK?
An employer must be careful to avoid employing someone who does not have the right to work in the UK.
Doing so knowingly is a criminal offence and inadvertently employing someone who is working illegally can lead to a civil penalty of up to £20,000 for an employer who has not carried out a proper documentation check.
Right to work in the UK and dismissal
At the same time it is important not to react too hastily in assuming that an employee’s permission to work has expired. A genuine but mistaken belief that an employee is not entitled to work in the UK can be a fair reason for dismissal, but the employer still needs to behave reasonably.
Tribunals will understand that an employer needs to behave promptly, but that will not excuse a failure to examine the situation calmly and make proper enquiries – as the case of Sanha v Facilicom Cleaning Services Ltd shows.
Recording Right to Work in the UK
Mr Sanha was dismissed when his employer believed that his permission to work in the UK had expired. The Home Office online checking service had no record of him making an application to renew his permission, and the employer therefore believed that they had no choice but to dismiss.
Unfair dismissal and immigration
As it turned out, however, he had made such an application. What was more, he was married to an EU citizen working in the UK and was entitled to work in the UK on that basis alone.
The dismissal was held to be unfair because the employer should have made more detailed enquiries into his status and realised that the application he had made would not have made its way into the Home Office’s system by the time they carried out the check.
Compensation for unfair dismissal and Right to Work
The appeal to the EAT was concerned with compensation – should the award be reduced to reflect the contributory fault of the employee? The EAT accepted that the employee’s conduct could be regarded as blameworthy in that he had been less than forthcoming about his correspondence with the Home Office.
On the other hand the employer’s decision to dismiss was not actually influenced by the employee’s failure to provide a fuller account of his status. The employer had acted purely on the basis of the results on the online checking service, so the employee’s conduct had not contributed to the decision to dismiss.
A specialist employment & HR solicitor's view
Chris Dobbs, head of our specialist employment & HR team
This case demonstrates that, while employers need to always check and act promptly in relation to the right to work in the UK, they should make the necessary enquiries.
Each case is very fact specific and sometimes the individuals themselves will not realise what they should have done to confirm their right to work in the UK. Mistakes are easy to make and advice should be sort if there are any doubts and particularly if dismissal is being considered.
Specialist Employment Solicitors in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and The New Forest
Our specialist employment law & HR team have advised many businesses and employees on discrimination matters.
We offer a free initial chat with one of our bright, friendly lawyers to all new clients. Call us on 01202 499 255 or visit the contact us page to get in touch.
Employment law updates
We will post any announcements, along with advice for employers and HR professionals as soon as we are able. These will be shared on our website and on social media.
Our Employment and HR newsletter will continue to be sent out monthly, though as important information is announced by the government, we may send this to you more frequently.
Our quarterly employment training sessions are postponed until further notice, and we are hosting them online instead. Sign up to our newsletter to receive invitations.